Up to an extra £1 billion a year could be spent on fixing potholes and other road maintenance if the Government invested two pence per litre of existing fuel duty, the body that represents councils has suggested.

A car drives over a pothole on a road. Credit: Tim Goode/PA Archive/Press Association Images

The Local Government Association (LGA) said investing fuel duty back into road maintenance would allow councils to bring the country's crumbling highways up to scratch within a decade.

The LGA, which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, said that although the Government recently responded to calls for extra funding, it was "simply not enough", with local authorities only being able to "patch up" problems rather than carry out longer-term preventative work.

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Among councils to get an extra slice of money set aside to mend potholes is Northamptonshire, which will get £3.3 million after it set up systems to track pothole repairs in real time, allowing it to deploy teams and co-ordinate work more effectively.

Potholes are the bane of all our lives and the funding announced today is an important step in ridding our roads of this menace.

But it is only one part of a massive programme of investment to get our country up to speed as part of this government's long term economic plan.

By building, repairing and renewing our key infrastructure we will ensure the future growth and prosperity of this country.

– Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin

Hampshire, where new pothole-fixing equipment can be converted to salt icy roads in winter, gets around £6 million, while Lancashire will receive £4.9 million.

Some £10 million is also earmarked for London, the Department for Transport said. The money must be used to repair potholes or ensure that they do not appear in the first place. Councils will also have to publish updates on works every three months, and all work has to be completed by March 2015.

A greater share of a multi-million pound fund being set aside to repair the country's potholes is to be handed to England's "model" councils.

More than three million potholes will be filled in by March next year as part of the biggest investment in roads since the 1970s.

£168 million set aside to mend potholes on UK roads. Credit: PA

The Government has set aside £168 million to mend the nation's broken roads, spread across 148 councils. Coucils will get a share, but extra will be given to those demonstrating "best practice in highways maintenance", including bringing in specialist machinery or setting up dedicated repair teams.

A new report estimates the "catch-up" cost of repairing potholes and getting the local road network back into reasonable condition has risen to £12 billion.

Visitors to ITV News' Facebook page have been sharing their experiences of pothole damage.

Countless tyre damage due to potholes. Bumpy awful journeys. The roads are in a dreadful condition, even motorways. Very dangerous at high speed. About time the government spent the money in the right places!

– Carole Mallett

I stopped counting the potholes in one road the other day! Got fed up!

It's shocking.

– Eve Van Eyk

I hit a pothole and it destroyed my inner wheel. As they were custom-made I couldn't afford to fix them so had to sell the car.

The government has responded to local council demands for emergency cash to deal with a "daunting trail of destruction" on England's roads after England's record wettest winter by promising an extra £140 million to deal with the problem.

Most councils are expected to receive the extra money by the end of this week in a bid to ensure works are completed before the summer holidays.

In return they will be required to publish on websites by the end of August details of how it was used.